Increased quality assurance concerns associated with the Medicare End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) program underscore the need for research addressing the adaptation and quality of life of ESRD patients. Patients' levels of psychological adjustment and their degree of adherence with ESRD treatment regimen reflect two important criteria that are examined in the present continuation proposal. One central objective of the research involves identifying psychological characteristics that influence medical regimen adherence and emotional adjustment among patients treated with renal dialysis. This will be accomplished using a longitudinal study design that considers the effects of patient individual differences (i.e., coping style) and contextual differences among the available dialysis treatment modalities. A key aspect of the study involves the assessment of patients at an early stage of progressive renal insufficiency, before renal dialysis is clinically necessary. We hypothesize that adherence and adjustment will vary as a joint function of the type of dialysis prescribed and patient individual differences assessed at baseline. For example, we predict that patients' possessing a more active or vigilant style of coping will exhibit more favorable adherence when undergoing a self-administered dialysis treatment modality (e.g., continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis) but poorer adherence when receiving staff administered dialysis (e.g., center hemodialysis). A second objective involves identifying patient characteristics that are related to adherence to adjustment among renal transplantation patients. Initial psychosocial assessment will be conducted during the pre-transplant evaluation process. A set of hypotheses regarding psychological predictors of patient adherence and changes in emotional well being after transplantation will be tested in a prospective manner. For Example, we hypothesize that patients with a more active style of coping with health-related stress will exhibit better regimen adherence and better emotional adjustment than other transplant patients. We believe the proposed research will extend the role of psychological theory and practice in contributing to the care of ESRD patients. The knowledge generated will add to a growing body of literature that suggests psychosocial assessment information can be useful in the selection f the most beneficial renal treatment modality for a particular patient.